Hughes v. City of Lawrence
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort, for personal injuries occasioned to the plaintiff by a defect in the sidewalk of a street which the defendant was bound to keep in repair. At the trial in the Superior Court, before Bond, J., the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff; and the defendant alleged exceptions, which, so far as material, were as follows.
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Tort, for personal injuries occasioned to the plaintiff by a defect in the sidewalk of a street which the defendant was bound to keep in repair. At the trial in the Superior Court, before Bond, J., the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff; and the defendant alleged exceptions, which, so far as material, were as follows. The plaintiff was injured by falling upon the sidewalk on Essex Street in Lawrence at about half past eight or nine o’clock in the evening of January 8, 1893. At the place where she fell the sidewalk was constructed of brick with an edgestone, and from the curb to the…
1Opinion of the CourtMorton, J.
It has been held that a condition of mere slipperiness upon a well constructed sidewalk due to natural causes alone, and not to an accumulation of ice and snow, did not constitute a defect in the way; (Stanton v. Springfield, 12 Allen, 566 ; Billings v. Worcester, 102 Mass. 329 ;) but that a way would be defective if so constructed, or if its condition was such that there was in consequence thereof some special cause for the collection or formation of ice in a particular locality and the way was thereby rendered unsafe and dangerous, though the ice was smooth and slippery, and not uneven or…
2Cases cited11 opinions
- Marvin v. City of New BedfordMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1893
- Billings v. City of WorcesterMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1869
- Spellman v. Inhabitants of ChicopeeMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1881
- Olson v. City of WorcesterMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1886
- Adams v. Inhabitants of ChicopeeMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1888
6 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.
3Cited by16 opinions
- Newton v. City of WorcesterMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1899
- Kangas's CaseMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1933
- City of Muncie v. HeyIndiana Supreme Court · 1905
- Hofacre v. City of MonticelloSupreme Court of Iowa · 1905
- Redford v. City of WoburnMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1900
11 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.